Awakenings Spring festival once again swept its sacred ground Spaarnwoude with artists like Adam Beyer, Amelie Lens or Reinier Zonneveld.
Awakening Spring Festival returns to Houtrak (Spaarnwoude Park) as the brand's first outdoor event of the year. This year the date has been moved a month later in search of good weather, and it has been. After a week of clouds and rain in Amsterdam, Saturday and Sunday became sunny days with good temperatures. We really wanted to go back to the one we called Awakenings original since before the pandemic period we had not been able to return to the festival in 2022.
This year they kept their new creation of Area V, its great open air stage. New this year the area M would become a gigantic ship the size of the events that Awakenings takes place during the winter like in Eindhoven or Gashouder.
On Saturday, we entered the festival site around 14:30 p.m. through the north gate. Despite being a priori the rush hour for people to access, we did not find any queues, neither in general access nor in guest access. As soon as you pass the access controls, you could not miss one of the tips of Awakenings How are the personalized glasses of the festival. Detail that they always give at the entrance and which is a magnificent memory, also if the day is sunny as it was the case, even more so.
The first thing we did was go to the main stage (Area V) to see the stage they had set up since there was a lot of hype created on the networks the previous days. This year the stage was made up of two tall lateral towers and a central one in which the DJ booth was located. These towers, in turn, were made up of rectangular prisms, faithful to the usual geometric shapes, and a multitude of screens and spotlights at night.
They were at the controls at the time. Joyhauser breaking it with his dynamic techno. The Belgian duo are making a name for themselves on the techno scene and their popularity continues to rise due to their hard-hitting sets loaded with kicks. Proof of this is its premiere in Awakening Spring Festival on the main stage where they let us see part of their new album «In memory» which opens this coming month of June.
When finished we moved to area X, the hard techno tent. It was the turn of Alignment, dj that we really wanted to see live. The Italian jewel of KNTXT, the label of Charlotte de Witte, mixes old school tracks with futuristic themes and trance. All this at more than 140 bpms delighted the ravers who packed the tent.
Around 18 p.m. after the end of the set of Alignment in the X tent, it was the turn to know the U area. On this occasion, it was presented as a very special open air area. Next to the lake we find a boiler room style stage in which the DJ is not at one end or a stop. It is at ground level and can be skirted to see it in action from behind, creating a unique atmosphere with Darya Kolosova to the dishes.
Daria, which we also saw in Awakenings Eindhoven in the secret area, she bases his style on hard and groovy techno. He also frequently mixes with breakbeat, industrial, electro, hardcore or jungle, which always makes his performances exciting and genre-rich.
After the Ukrainian set, we returned to the area V to see the end of the set of Joris Voorn. We went through the area H, the smallest stage of the festival and different from the rest. The essence of this stage in the middle of the forest is to find yourself in a clandestine rave with resident DJs, a real hoot to change the format.
Once back on the main stage Joris Voorn True to his melodic style, he had prepared a set for us mixing classic themes as well as new unreleased tracks such as ID «Wasted» to Joyhauser. We decided to stay in this area to end the day with Amelie Lens.
Amelie with her most acid record made area V vibrate during the two hours that the set lasted but the closure remained in our retinas to remember, with the track «The Prophet» to C. J. Bolland ringing out as fireworks shot into the sky from the stage towers. End of the first day of the festival with a very good taste in the mouth to continue burning shoes on Sunday.
On Sunday, another sunny day presented itself, and we woke up with the hard decision over breakfast to see who to close the festival with. You had to choose whether to close with Renier zonneveld and your live session or with one of the two most anticipated and exclusive b2b. On one side in the area Y with hard techno, the duet of the moment Kobosil y Clara Cuve or area M with the duo formed in b2b by Kölsch y Kevin de vries. Also noteworthy, even more expected than the previous ones, is the b2b of two of the best-known names in the techno scene, Adam Beyer y Joseph Capriati.
We got there a little earlier around 13:30 p.m. as we didn't want to miss the set of Bart Skils, as faithful followers of the label Drumcode what are we. We had to enter through the north door again, since they diverted the entrance from the south door to this one so that crowds would not form due to the influx of people at the same time. Point to highlight towards the organization since they are forecasters and make access fluid and attendees do not have to wait any time in queues or as little as possible.
We were able to listen to his latest tracks featured on Drumcode as Roll the Dice» or their collaborations with Weska released the same week of the festival «Something More" and "Palm Strings«.
We stayed in the main to see Indira Paganotto, new talent who has risen to fame in the techno world with his unique style, mixing psytrance with techno. Another signing of Charlotte de Witte, which debuted on the main stage of Awakenings.
As a DJ from our land, the Canary Islander was able to feel all the support from the Spaniards who were there. A bursting V area was waiting for the moment to dance to the songs from her latest EP «Lions Of God» and so it was, tracks like «Legend» or «Diabla»They were not missing in their set.
After Indira's set was over, we stayed to see the first half hour of Anna, another DJ collaborator of Drumcode that we love, before moving on stage. Sunday was undoubtedly a day not to move from area V in terms of our musical tastes, but we also wanted to see new talents unknown to us.
This is the case of Anatha that we had not yet had the opportunity to see her on the decks live. She presents herself as part of the new generation of French DJs inspired by EBM, trance, electro and old school 90s techno for ten years.
Halfway through the set we return to the main stage to see the most anticipated b2b for us, our idols Adam Beyer y Joseph Capriati side by side to leave a set full of magic. Beyer's forceful kick mixed with exclusive touches from the Italian is a bomb no matter where you look at it.
As expected, on the set they mixed new tracks that are postulated as the IDs of the summer. An example of this is the latest track presented by Drumcode «Dark Clouds»From«Teenage Mutants ft. Heerhorst & Peter Pahn». The set also left us one of the funny moments of the festival, in which we could see a volleyball game with a net included a few meters in front of the booth.
Now yes! Once the techno titans' set was over, it was time to decide. As the closing sets of the festival are 2 hours long, and we didn't want to miss any of them, we decided to go for an hour each. We start with him area Y located just to the right of the main stage to raise the BPMs with the hard techno of Kobosil y Clara Cuve. The Berlin producer presents sets that combine darkness and ecstasy, the basis of his powerful approach to techno.
Complying with what was decided at 22 p.m. we moved to the immense area M. The gigantic warehouse closed with the b2b of Kölsch y Kevin de Vries. The productions of Kölsch have been remixed by Kevin de Vries and vice versa, it was time to see them together in action. Kevin assiduous to the seal «Afterlife» would put the melodic touch while Kölsch with his extensive repertoire he gave it an underground touch.
The duo gave us their all and played classic songs like «Sleeping» to Paul Nazca or the hit «Countach» to Butch remixed by Kölsch. But without a doubt one of the epic moments of the set was the moment they mixed Kevin de Vries' latest release «dance with me». How could it be otherwise, this track has been covered by Kölsch giving it a faster and more energetic touch.
The end of the set was incredible with the floating mirror that came down from the ceiling in which all the spotlights reflected, creating beams of light as if it were the sun itself. This coupled with the rockets being guided by rails from side to side of the ship was amazing. It could be seen how everyone present was watching the show as if they were in a movie theater.
Everything comes to an end and we ended this crazy weekend. I could spend hours talking about him, but I didn't want to close the chronicle without thanking the entire team at Awakenings the opportunity you have given us to live this experience by covering the event. Our most sincere congratulations to the organization in all aspects. From the entrances to the festival, both for general access and for the press access, to the bathrooms that are always clean and organized so that there are no crowds.
Area backstage has been a dream for us in an event of this caliber. On the main stage there was an area with tables and a bar where you could take a break and chat. Being able to talk with several of our favorite djs over a beer about their latest releases or have a shot toasting with Rocco, the promoter of Awakenings, It's something we won't easily forget.
In the rest area, where the food trucks are located, you can recharge your batteries in front of the lake as if you were on a picnic at sunset. Of course the magnificent stages from the smallest one in the middle of the forest to the huge closed M area and the open air V area each with its own atmosphere.
Also highlight the sustainability of the festival, the recycling system with tokens It makes attendees aware and instead of throwing away the glass when finishing the drink, they go with it to the bars to reuse it or change it for a new one.
For those of us who want to return next year, pre-registration is now open at your website. Besides, his summer festival en hilvarenbeek It promises to be the techno event of the year in Europe in its second strong 3-day edition.
It only remains to say goodbye with this year's motto, Rise and shine, it's techno time!!!
